Cuomo vs. the IDA's

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The Monroe County Industrial Development Agency, as well as virtually every industrial agency in the state, has come out against Governor Andrew Cuomo's proposal to restrict agencies' ability to offer state sales tax exemptions to businesses. | COMIDA has awarded state sales tax exemptions, along with county sales tax exemptions and other tax incentives, to projects including the new ESL headquarters in the city and the Culver Road armory mixed-use development. | Cuomo's plan would change who can receive the benefits, and neither project mentioned above would have been eligible under the new arrangement. | Cuomo's 2013 to 2014 budget proposal says that IDA's currently provide the exemptions without input from the state or regional economic development councils. And he says he wants to limit the industries that can receive exemptions to scientific research and development, software development, agriculture, back office operations, distribution centers, financial services, data centers, and manufacturing. | Cuomo also wants the regional economic development councils to approve the state sales tax exemptions. And companies receiving exemptions would have to pay the sales tax upfront and then seek reimbursement.

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